Bath drain washer construction



Nov. 1, 1966 s. A. YOUNG BATH DRAIN WASHER CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 15, 1963 INVENTOR. J: A. YO (/NG- United States Patent Oflice 338L865 Patented Nov. 1, 1966 3,281,865 BATH DRAIN WASHER CONSTRUCTION Stephen A. Young, RR. 5, Monticello, End. Filed Sept. 13, 1963, Ser- No. 308,826 3 (Ilaims. (Cl. 4-466) This invention relates to bath drain washer construction and particularly to a sealing washer which may be used intermediate a bath drain head and the tub upon which the drain is mounted, said washer being susceptible of use at the drain outlet opening in conjunction with the shoe as well.

In the installation of bath drains, it is customary to provide a sealing washer between the head and the opening in the tub through which the overflow of water would take place in the event such overflow is present, whereby to seal the head with respect to the tub and assure that drainage is effected into the bath drain itself as opposed to the area in which the tub is located.

Similarly the drain arm of the tub and drain shoe connected thereto are likewise sealed in engagement with the drain opening in the tub in conjunction with the outlet plug construction, this commonly being effected by a resilient washer intermediate the drain arm shoe and tub so as to effectively seal the opening as is well known.

In the actual installation of bath drains, the problem has been that in order for the drain to be properly installed the washer must be preferably aligned with the head on a shoulder sometimes provided therefor, and subsequently positioned opposite the opening, this requiring one man to prevent the washer from slipping off the head, while a second man or plumber may hook up the overflow face plate, which under some conditions, and usually, assists in maintaining the head in its position opposite the drain opening. Oftentimes there are intermediate devices which are used such as lock rings or the like but irrespective of this arrangement this usually requires two plumbers to install.

The same situation exists with regard to the waste shoe or drain shoe, wherein a plumber must necessarily position a resilient washer adjacent the opening and held there by the shoe casting itself while the second plumber inserts and draws tight the waste plug,

Obviously if one of the plumbers services can be dispensed with, a substantial saving in cost of installation will be effected and to this end the present invention is directed.

First of all it is contemplated that the washer which is used for sealing the head with respect to the overflow opening and likewise the shoe with respect to the drain opening, may desirably be one and the same and if made of sufficiently resilient construction will in each case operate to effectively seal the openings in the preferred manner.

The washers in these cases are provided with positioning segments or gripping segments which enable the emplacement on the head and on the shoe likewise of the washer and thereafter it is not required that any one maintain the same in position with the fingers or like instrumentalities.

The particular advantage of the invention is the fact that it is susceptible of use with virtually any form of head or shoe and to that end is therefore universal, and further in this connection it is noted that irrespective of the angle of the bath tub wall with respect to the vertical, the washer will still accommodate therefor and not rely entirely upon the resilience thereof since the washer may be a beveled washer preferably.

With the foregoing in mind, it is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a bath drain washer construction in which the washer is retained upon the head and/or shoe by what may be termed built in gripping devices or segments so that it is not necessary to manually maintain the same in position while installation takes place.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bath drain washer construction in which various positions of the washer may be availed of to accommodate for wall angularity, irrespective of the resiliency or not which may be involved in the actual material from which the washer is for-med.

Other and further objects of the invention will be understood from a consideration of the specification appended hereto and disclosed in the drawing wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a bath drain of typical configuration foreshortened as to the waste arm and overflow arm but illustrating the positioning of the washer and mounting of the same with respect to the wall of a bath tub or the like.

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view showing the head alone and the head washer positioned in an opposite position as compared to FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a plan view showing the gripping segments of the washer herein.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view taken about on the line 3-4 of FIGURE 3 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to FIGURE 1, a bath drain of generally conventional construction is disclosed as including a T 1 from which extends a horizontal drain tube or waste arm 2, threadedly engaged as by the threads 3 with the T 1, the opposite end of the arm provided with threads 4 to which is threadedly engaged a waste shoe 5, this being a casting as is the T, the waste shoe 5 being provided at its upper portion with a peripherally extending flange 6, there being a suitable opening in this flange and in the shoe 5 to permit the threaded engagement therewith by a plug 7 mounted in the bottom wall 8 of a tub and extending through an opening 9 in said bottom wall to provide for the waste outflow of water in the tub in accordance with conventional construction.

The flange 6 by reason of the construction of the casting 5 for example, extends all the Way around the casting at its upper edge and as viewed in plan is substantially round, but at the portion designated 10 of the casting, by reason of the casting formation the flange has no under extension but rather merges with the casting body by reason of the construction to receive the waste arm 2 therein. This therefore in effect limits the gripping portion of the flange 6 and makes desirable the formation of the washer which is in this case denoted 11 along the lines which will be described in conjunction with the discussion of FIGURES 3 and 4 after the disclosure of the construction of the head and overflow arm is set forth.

Refer-ring therefore to the head and overflow arm, the overflow arm includes a tube 12 threadedly engaged at 13 with the T 1 at the lower end and at the upper end by means of the threads 14 with a head 15, the head 15 in turn being equipped with a peripherally extending flange 16 formed similarly to the flange 6 on the waste shoe 5, this resulting from the actual necessities of enlarging the portion 17 of; the head 15, this being a casting of course, to an extent which in effect substantially terminates the flange as such at about the position indicated at 18, this being of course true at opposite sides of the head 15.

It will also be noted that the flange 16 is angularly positioned. as respects the vertical axis of the tube 12, this being provided ordinarily, to make possible the positioning of the head 15 with respect to substantially any wall 19 of a tub, by relying entirely upon the resiliency of the head washer such as 11 which will now be described in detail as to the invention herein, after reference is had to the fact that an overflow face plate such as is usually provided to close or to conceal the opening 21 in the tub wall 19, said face plate being maintained in position by means of screws such as 22, there usually being two of these provided. The face plate 20 is equipped with suitable drain passages such as 23, which may be spaced in the skirt 24 for example which extends around the face plate 20 as will be understood from a consideration of the FIGURES 1 and 2.

Turning now to the construction of the bath drain washer hereof, it will be noted that as viewed in FIGURE 3 the body of the washer 11 is substantially round and includes a central opening 25 of substantial diameter whereby the peripheral portion 26 remaining is relatively narrow but sufficiently Wide to provide the sealing effect necessary.

As will be further understood from a consideration of the figures, the body of the washer 11 is beveled, the plane of the face 27 being angularly related to the plane of the face 28, and axially aligned therewith of course.

Positioned circumferentially with respect to the body of the washer 11, are the gripping segments 29 which to all intents and purposes are identical but of the opposite hand, these including the arcuate portions 30 which as illustrated in FIGURE 3 extend about degrees or onefourth the distance around the circumference although this is purely exemplary and may be more or less as will be subsequently explained.

Suitably integrally formed with the arcuate portions 30, are the shoulder sections 31 being of similar extent and extending inwardly as more particularly disclosed in FIGURE 4 in side view. These shoulder sections therefore provide a space beneath each and between the arcuate portions 30 of which may be positioned the flanges such as 6 and 16 when the washer is distorted sufficiently to permit this emplacement as illustrated in the respective portions of the figures.

Since the Washer body is of resilient nature such as a rubber composition of any preferred specification, and for desirable purposes hereof may be of relatively soft nature so as to be possible to distort enough to effect the sealing action desired under the tensioning effected by the respective elements provided therefor, and yet the beveled nature of the washer is also provided in order to accommodate for different angular positions of the tub wall, FIGURE 2 illustrating this by way of contrast and showing a tub wall such as 32 which is of greater angular position than the tub wall 19, facilitating the use of the washer 11 so as to position the heaviest section of the body at the lower portion of the head, this being possible to effect by reason of the portions of the washer intermediate the segments 29 since this will facilitate rotating the washer degrees from the position shown in FIG- URE l for example to the figure shown in FIGURE 2 so that the portion of the head 18 will not interfere since this section corresponding thereto of the washer is cut out intermediate the segments as will be understood.

Since the segments 29 are resilient they may be distorted enough to permit the sections 31 to be slipped over the flanges such as 6 and 16 and thereby maintain the washer 11 in position without more until the sealing action is effected as between either the face plate 20 and the head 15 or the waste plug 7 and the waste shoe 5.

I claim:

1. A bath drain washer comprising a beveled resilient body with intersecting planar surfaces, and a pair of oppositely disposed gripping segments integral therewith, said segments being arranged to grip a flange of a bath drain head or the like at spaced positions, whereby the plane of the bevel may be caused to assume at least two different angles with respect to the axis of the body.

2. A washer as claimed in claim 1, wherein each gripping segment comprises an arcuate portion near the periphery of the body and of limited extent, and a shoulder section integral with the portion.

3. A bath drain washer comprising a beveled resilient body of relatively large diameter, an opening in the body of less diameter, and a pair of oppositely disposed gripping segments integral with the body, each segment comprising an arcuate portion of relatively thin cross section extending out of the plane of said body and of limited circumferential extent, and a shoulder section integral with each portion, said section extending inwardly and of sufficient radial width to provide a gripping surface.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 995,692 6/1911 Barrelle et a1. 4113 1,870,089 8/1932 Bloch 4199 1,901,118 3/1933 Pope 4199 LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

H. GROSS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A BATH DRAIN WASHER COMPRISING A BEVELED RESILIENT BODY WITH INTERSECTING PLANAR SURFACES, AND A PAIR OF OPPOSITELY DISPOSED GRIPPING SEGMENTS INTEGRAL THEREWITH, SAID SEGMENTS BEING ARRANGED TO GRIP A FLANGE OF A BATH DRAIN HEAD OR THE LIKE AT SPACED POSITIONS, WHEREBY THE PLANE OF THE BEVEL MAY BE CAUSED TO ASSUME AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT ANGLES WITH RESPECT TO THE AXIS OF THE BODY. 